


if things had gone our way

by itisjosh



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Aftermath of Torture, Alternate Ending, Best Friends, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Gen, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Torture, Platonic Male/Male Relationships, alt ending to "run boy run", soft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-25
Updated: 2020-10-25
Packaged: 2021-03-09 05:53:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,000
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27178828
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itisjosh/pseuds/itisjosh
Summary: "Wilbur!" Schlatt screams, the fire burning his hands. He has to see him, there's no way Wilbur can miss him, he's so loud, he has to-"Schlatt?"(or: an alternate ending to run boy, run. in which wilbur finds his best friend)
Relationships: Jschlatt & Wilbur Soot
Comments: 36
Kudos: 311





	if things had gone our way

"Go!" Schlatt hears screaming, but it isn't the bad kind. It's not the normal kind, it's..he recognizes that voice. It.. _no_. No fucking way. "Come on, Techno! There are some over here!" He grips the bars of his cage, eyes huge. 

"Wilbur!" Schlatt screams, the fire burning his hands. Wilbur, he has to see him, there's no way Wilbur can miss him, he's so loud, he has to-

"Schlatt?" 

"Wilbur!" He shouts, rattling the bars of his cage, trying so hard to make as much noise as he can. "Wilbur, I'm over here! Wilbur, I'm here!" He screams as loud as he can, barely feeling the flames burn his hands, the iron heating up so fast.

"Schlatt!" He watches as Wilbur cuts through the smoke, nearly running right into the iron bars. "Oh my god! You're okay!" Wilbur is crying. Schlatt barely even realizes it, but he's crying, too. He waited so long, he waited..he waited _so long_. "Techno! I need help, I found him! I found him, he's okay!" Schlatt watches as another boy, older than Wilbur, appears, a sword in his hand. "Back up, Schlatt." Wilbur tells him, so he does. He watches as Techno raises his sword.

The sword crashes down on the bars, slicing through them. He stumbles back, watching as the cage lurches forwards for a second. It stops, the iron bars sliding to the ground, leaving an opening in the cage. As soon as the sword is away from him, Schlatt runs right into Wilbur, holding him as tightly as he can. "Oh my god," he whispers, his entire body shaking. "I missed you so much. I thought you died, I was so sure you.." 

"I thought you died," Wilbur whispers back. "I watched them stab you, and I thought..I'm so sorry I didn't come sooner, I tried. I tried so hard to go to every camp I could, I didn't.." Wilbur's shaking harder than he is, and Schlatt can hear his heart roaring. "You're okay. You're okay. Oh my god, you're..you're here, you're alive. Are you okay? Please say you're okay." 

Schlatt lets out a shaky laugh, holding his best friend closer. "I'm okay," he murmurs. "I'm okay. I'm so happy you're here," he pauses, pulling away. "Wilbur, I've got..I've got friends here. I can't let them die," Wilbur nods, but he still keeps a grip on Schlatt's shoulder, like he's afraid to let him go. Schlatt reaches out, tugging his hand down to hold it in his own. "Come on," he drags Wilbur off to Quackity's cage, staring at his friend. "Big Q?"

"Schlatt!" Quackity coughs, ash staining his clothes. "Can you..can you get me outta here, man? It's getting hot." 

He watches as Techno's sword slices through the bars, and he grabs Quackity, helping him out of the rubble. "Quackity, it's- it's Wilbur," he gestures to him. "He came back." Quackity grins, his eyes shining. 

"Schlatt would _not_ shut up about you-"

"Hey!" Schlatt glares at him, but he can't hide the smile on his face. "There's someone else, his name is Fundy-"

"We already found him," Techno murmurs. "I helped dad set up a portal. He's back home. Everyone else is out," he turns, staring off past the smoke. "We gotta get outta here. It's gettin' too dangerous for us to be here." 

So they do, and Schlatt never lets go of Wilbur's hand.

* * *

"Ow!" Schlatt winces, pulling his hand away from Wilbur's. "Be _careful_ , dumbass," he snorts, tentatively letting Wilbur take his hand back. "It hurts, Wilbur." 

"I know," Wilbur sighs, pouring more of the burn cream on his hand. "But if I don't clean it up, it's gonna get infected. And if it gets infected, it's going to hurt even more. And then I'm gonna have to hold you down to do this, and then it'll irritate all your _other_ injuries, and-"

Schlatt laughs, ducking his head. He holds back another wince as Wilbur runs his hand over the burn a little too roughly. "I get it, I get it. Phil's magic, right? Why don't you just let him fix me?" Wilbur blinks at him, his entire face flushing. "Oh," Schlatt grins. "You want to spend time fixing me up, huh? You're so in love with me, Wilbur, you know that?" Wilbur rolls his eyes, a smile on his lips. 

"It's been four years, Schlatt. I missed you." 

"I missed you, too," Schlatt assures him. "I never gave up hope, you know? I thought..maybe, maybe you'd come back. I'm so glad you did," he sighs, watching as Wilbur starts to wrap up his hand. "Quackity isn't a hybrid like me," he explains. "He's a human. His parents just sent him to that camp so he wouldn't die," Schlatt sighs, holding out his other hand when Wilbur motions for it. "Fundy's only a couple years younger than us. He's eight. You're what, fifteen now?" 

Wilbur raises an eyebrow at him. "You forgot my birthday?" He asks, mock disappointment in his voice.

"Of course not," Schlatt snorts. "You're fifteen. I'm sixteen. Thank you," he murmurs. "For not giving up." Wilbur smiles at him, and it's so bright it could rival the sun. Schlatt missed that. He missed that so, so much. He never knew he could miss someone's smile, but holy fuck, he can. 

"I'd never give up on you, Schlatt. I'd rather have died than stopped trying to find you. You're a stubborn little shit," he laughs. "I knew you had to be alive. You wouldn't have given up that easily." Schlatt smiles, the pain in his hands slowly ebbing away. When he grabbed onto his cage, his hands got _burnt_. Very, very badly burnt. It was worth it, but _fuck, it hurts_. 

Schlatt leans back, wincing when his back touches the cool metal of the table he's on. "I know I didn't make it easy."

"Not your fault," Wilbur reminds him. "I..I'm just glad you're here, Schlatt. I was going fucking crazy without you." Schlatt smiles, closing his eyes. For the first time in so long, he finally feels safe again.

"I love you too, Wilbur."

* * *

Schlatt sits in front of his grave, which he never thought he'd think. He stares down at the flowers, which are all still alive. Wilbur told him that as soon as he started to feel safe, he made Phil enchant the ground around the grave. Just so the flowers would stay alive. He smiles down at the grave, looking down at his hands. Wilbur's had to rewrap them a few times already, which _sucks._ Phil said that he might lose feeling in his hands, since his nerves or whatever got so fried. Schlatt isn't sure, but it's not like it'll really change much. "Funny seeing you here," Quackity smiles, plopping down next to him. "You coming to say hello to yourself?" Schlatt shoots him a lopsided grin, his hair hanging in his face. 

"I figured it would be nice of me to pop in," he teases. "Have you come out here, too?"

"Sometimes," Quackity shrugs, picking at the dirt. "It's nice to talk to you when you don't reply." Schlatt barks out a laugh, tilting his head back, grinning. 

"That's just inconsiderate, Big Q. I'm a great conversationalist. Are you adjusting well? I know it's kinda difficult, since..you know."

Quackity smiles, closing his eyes as he tilts his head back. "Yeah. It's better than the camp, that's for sure."

"You know what I meant."

"Yeah," he smiles a bit more. "Phil's nice. Techno's a bit quiet, but he's fine. Wilbur's.." he laughs. "Yeah, he's just like you described him. Did he always used to break into song randomly?" Schlatt snorts. "I wonder when Tubbo's gonna wake up."

Schlatt makes a noise from the back of his throat, frowning. "I hope he wakes up soon. Tommy's really..he's like me, you know? I barely managed to believe Wilbur was alive, and I didn't even see him. Maybe..I don't know. Maybe I can tell Phil about some of the magic that they did to me."

"They did magic?"

"Yeah," Schlatt nods. "They had a survivor from the Magical Academy. He wasn't there by choice," he scoffs. "But, you know. Not a lot of us were. I know a little bit of magic, he talked to me enough." Quackity nods, going quiet for a few moments. 

"It'd be good to talk to him about it then, yeah," he agrees. "I swear to god, Wilbur's adopted Fundy." 

Schlatt laughs, clapping his hands together. "God, yeah. He's just a big softie."

"Who's just a big softie?" Schlatt beams at the sound of Wilbur's voice, turning to face him. "Are you shit talking me behind my back, Schlatt? That's upsetting." 

"He was," Quackity confirms, standing up. "I'm gonna go bother Fundy now. You two have fun." He winks before he scampers off, disappearing past the garden.

Wilbur sits down next to him, laying back in the grass. His hair immediately splays out, fluffing out literally everywhere. Schlatt leans back to do the same, staring up at the clouds. "Hey, Wilbur."

"Hey, Schlatt." He's fairly certain he could live off of those two words for the rest of his life. 

"Should we get rid of it?" He asks, turning to raise an eyebrow at his best friend. "The grave? Since..you know. I'm kind of alive." Wilbur grins back at him, his eyes half-closed.

"Maybe," he sighs. "How are your hands?"

"I can't feel them. How's your little brother?"

"My-"

"Tommy's your little brother and you _know_ it, Wilbur." 

Wilbur sighs. "Not officially."

"Phil doesn't have to make it official for it to be true." 

"I don't like it when you're right."

Schlatt grins, turning back to look at the clouds. "I'm always right." Wilbur moves closer to him, laying his head over Schlatt's chest.

"I'm really happy you're back, Schlatt."

"I'm really happy to be back, Wilbur."

* * *

When Wilbur, Fundy, Tommy, and Tubbo leave to go to a place called the Dream SMP, Schlatt follows

When Wilbur calls for a revolution, Schlatt is the first to back him up.

When Wilbur fights, Schlatt is right next to him.

He stays by his side the entire time, raising his shield with hyperfast reflexes, making sure nothing happens to his best friend. To his President. To his _leader_. 

Schlatt throws Wilbur out of the final control room when he sees the door start to close, making sure his best friend at least got out alive. He fought to the death, and he managed to take both Sapnap and Ponk with him before Dream cut him down.

When he wakes up, Wilbur's sat next to him, holding his hand.

He's the one who offers to duel Dream, the one who suggests the end to the war with a final death. 

Tommy drags him aside, telling him his plans to end the war. To give up his discs, to protect Wilbur and L'manberg. When Schlatt asks why, Tommy just smiles at him. "Wilbur would be crushed to watch you die again, Schlatt. Let me do this." 

So Schlatt lets him.

L'manberg wins in the end. 

Schlatt helps build L'manberg's walls, cutting open old scars on his hands. He's the one to lay the final brick. Wilbur stands next to his side, grinning as he watches Tommy and Tubbo yell at each other, watches as Fundy and Niki sit by the lake. 

"Hey, Wilbur?"

"Yeah, Schlatt?" Schlatt grins, resting his arm on Wilbur's shoulder. 

"We did it."

"We did," Wilbur confirms, his own grin on his face. "Do you think we'll keep it?"

"We will," Schlatt assures him. "I'd rather die before I let someone take this from us. Hey, Wilbur?"

"Yeah, Schlatt?"

"I love you."

Wilbur smiles, tightening his grip on Schlatt's back. "I love you too, man. Come on," he starts to move, reaching out to drag Schlatt with him. "We've got a nation to run."

And, like usual, Schlatt follows.


End file.
